MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India general manager (Cricket Operations) M V Sridhar has stepped down.
His resignation was accepted by the Committee of Administrators (COA). BCCI CEO Rahul Johri will be the head of Cricket Operations in the interim, supported by a three-member team comprising Mayank Parik (International Cricket, Logistics), KVP Rao (Domestic Cricket) and Gaurav Saxena (for ICC/ACC matters, co-ordination with other international boards and point person for the Indian men’s cricket team), says a PTI report quoting Johri’s e-mail sent to the office-bearers -“Please note that Dr MV Sridhar has decided to move on and tendered his resignation….Dr Sridhar has agreed to stay on till September 30, 2017 for smooth handover of work. We thank him for his services to BCCI.”
Sridhar was under the scanner for allegations of financial impropriety in his home state association, the Hyderabad Cricket Association, while he was heading the state body. Among the decisions taken by Sridhar that irked the CoA were the appointment of a trainer, Sohum Desai, at the NCA and the scrapping of the Duleep Trophy, which was later restored by the CoA.
His major undoing though was nondisclosure of his ‘conflicted’ position in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). Sridhar was found to be owning a few clubs in Hyderabad which were availing funds from the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). Sridhar did not disclose this voluntarily and the CoA had asked BCCI CEO Rahul Johri to issue him a showcause notice.
Another “demerit” against Sridhar, according to Mumbai Mirror, was Virender Sehwag’s recent comment that he was asked by the former Hyderabad Ranji captain to apply for the India coach position. Sehwag’s comments on why he failed to get the position (which went to India captain Virat Kohli’s preferred choice Ravi Shastri) drew negative publicity to the process of coach selection and Sridhar’s name being dragged into the saga reportedly did not help matters any.
Picture courtesy: Deccan Chronicle
